Wildjoy

MEET LACY CAIN, FOUNDER AND CEO OF WILDJOY, AN ADVENTURE LIFESTYLE COMPANY WITH A MISSION TO SOLVE LIFESTYLE PROBLEMS BY CREATING UPLIFTING CONTENT.

What comes to mind when I say Arizona? Desert, cactus and the heat most likely.

But I guarantee you haven’t explored, or experienced Arizona, quite like this before–and that’s where Wildjoy steps in.

Lacy Cain established Wildjoy in May 2019 shortly after graduating from the University of Arizona. Wildjoy, an adventure lifestyle company based in Arizona, is the premier destination to discover unique and affordable activities in all corners of the state.

Before highlighting Wildjoy’s impressive successes, a journey filled with difficulties and determination led to Cain’s breakthrough idea–Wildjoy.

Humble Beginnings

Lacy, a Tucson-native with entrepreneurial roots, says she grew up creating little businesses to keep her mind occupied, so it was a natural fit for her to attend a school that supported entrepreneurship. While in her senior year, Lacy was given an assignment to develop a business idea to solve a big problem, which spurred the beginnings of Wildjoy.

“I was like, ‘what business am I going to build? What am I passionate about? What kind of problem do I want to solve?” Lacy says. “And for me, the problem I wanted to solve was the fact that people are so sad, depressed and anxious and there are so many things to do that would relieve them of that, to give them joy.” 

“So what if I put a bunch of amazing adventures onto a single platform and like-minded people can go on it and utilize it? So graduating that was the concept I was going for and I was very unsuccessful for the first year, I didn’t really understand how to make the business make money. I almost went out of business until I started posting on TikTok in January 2020 and it changed my business forever–we grew 50,000 followers in three months and I was able to get my first sponsorship that summer.”

In just over three years Wildjoy has created an engaged community of over 300,000 followers on social media, successfully partnered with the Chicago Cubs and Warner Bros. while maintaining its mission.

Wildjoy has guides, an app and social media content packed with all types of activities.

A New Approach to Content Creation

Lacy says that’s the fun part of content creation, starting out experimenting and taking a different approach to adventure and lifestyle content. 

“When I was trying to think of ideas with videos to start off with, I was thinking, ‘Everyone’s used to seeing a picture of the Superstition Mountains, but they rarely get to see, ‘you get to hunt for this gold mine near here and this is how much fun you’re going to have and this is the joy you’ll see, etc.’ That’s our intent, is to basically capture as much fun as possible into our video content that will inspire people to see themselves in us. We want them to see ‘I can do this too.’”

What makes Wildjoy different from other similar companies? Its focused mission, which guides the direction and development of content.

“A lot of our content is solving lifestyle problems. For example ‘What do I do for my birthday party?’ or ‘Where can I go this weekend and I don’t have that much money?’ we’re constantly creating content that answers people’s questions and that’s what makes us so successful and why we spread like wildfire literally.

“For example, we’ve put over 50 date ideas out there and have received messages from couples that have furthered their love story through Wildjoy and it’s so awesome. We have people that just moved here experiencing Arizona for the first time and people who have lived here their whole lives.”

“Our intent is to basically capture as much fun as possible into our video content that will inspire people to see themselves in us. We want them to see ‘I can do this too.’”

Community Building and Events

Lacy says people are seeing a small portion of what Wildjoy does on social media. Not only does Wildjoy focus on creating engaging content on social media, they also have a comprehensive app that’s impeccably organized to quickly navigate an array of adventures. From day trips, date night ideas, accessible adventures, water activities and more, plus a merch store, blog and events.

“We really want to bring our virtual community together in person so we throw these limited edition events that sell out within 24 hours and they’re really fun,” Lacy says, with the most recent event at a Chicago Cubs Spring Training Game earlier this year.

“One thing I’m really excited about that’s coming up here in October, is we’re going to do a 31-day spooky series, where across our TikTok and Instagram to our 340,000 followers, we’re going to be posting a video every single day and we’re going to be deep-diving into the history of these very fun, spooky places that you can explore in Arizona. We think that this campaign will get millions of views, so it’s pretty cool, it’s like making a movie.”

The app also provides a unique experience for the Wildjoy community, allowing them to easily search for activities. When the opportunity for an app presented itself, Lacy seized the opportunity.

“One night I got a message from a dedicated follower of Wildjoy and he had created my app because he loved what I was doing. He was like ‘Do you have any interest the app for Wildjoy?’ I was like ‘let’s get on the phone tonight’ so six months later I bought it and I put all my data onto it and learned what goes into the backend of an app. I launched it and, most people hit 1,000 downloads in their entire app lifetime—we did 10,000 the first week. So it felt really good…that’s a feeling i’ll never forget.” While the app is currently only available for iPhones, Wildjoy is working on an Android version.

Lacy has also had opportunities to mentor young women who are interested in starting their own businesses and has spoken at Arizona events about her journey as an entrepreneur. “Last year, I was honored to speak at the Arizona Governor’s Conference on Tourism where I got to speak in front of 500 leaders about how they can use video content to further their city’s or businesses' growth,” Lacy says. “So I’m always trying to redistribute information, I think that’s one of my gifts in life is empowering other people to believe they can do it too.’”

Wildjoy’s success is a testament to Lacy’s determination and resiliency through challenges, which have contributed to creating a successful six-figure company.

“I refuse to go to that full time corporate life…I never want to have to do that. When I’ve gone through challenges, like when the pandemic started in March 2020, I had just had a TikTok following for three months, I lost my serving job, I maxed out my credit cards–it was a very scary time and those moments you have to have why you’re doing this written down.

“I have an 8-page mission to myself that I wrote three years ago when I started the company that I fall back on when I’m having really hard times,” Lacy shares. “But what that piece of paper told me at the time was that ‘no one’s going to fight for this harder than you are,’ so I took that to heart and I fought and I fought and I fought–and now we’re doing six figures and it’s so exciting.”

“I’m really passionate at what I do and all I ever want to do is make people feel better through my content, so it’s very exciting. It feels so good to stand in my truth in what I know and what I know is Wildjoy is solving a powerful problem.

“We’re helping people feel joy again and rediscover where they’ve always lived with a new sparkly lens, so with the future, I just want to keep growing the Joyclub.”

Forging a New Path Forward

In the future, Lacy hopes they can expand, taking the successful model of Wildjoy in Arizona and bring it to other states across the country.

“Wildjoy right now is just in Arizona because we believe that in order to do something really well everywhere, we have to do it really well one place first,” Lacy says. “So we’re growing here in Arizona and then we’re going to spread out across the United States. You’ll be able to go onto Wildjoy.com and you’ll be able to see all the experiences we recommend from every single state, and you’ll be able to log on and make a profile and go and do these adventures with other like-minded people, so it will be really exciting and hopefully I’ll sell the company in 5-7 years.”

“I’m really passionate at what I do and all I ever want to do is make people feel better through my content, so it’s very exciting.” Lacy says it’s rewarding owning her own business after men told her in college that Wildjoy didn’t make any sense, couldn’t possibly be successful and she would be better off settling with a full-time job. “It feels so good to stand in my truth in what I know and what I know is Wildjoy is solving a powerful problem,” Lacy says. “We’re helping people feel joy again and rediscover where they’ve always lived with a new sparkly lens, so with the future, I just want to keep growing the Joyclub.”

To learn more about Wildjoy and explore their guides and app, visit wildjoy.com.